Getting back out again, with someone walking beside you.
Keeping Well is for people who are not frail, but who have got out of the habit of going out. A regular walk and talk, a bit of encouragement, and a gentle shape to the week.
One to two hoursFrom £30For the person themselves, or a partner
A standing arrangement to leave the house
Confidence is quietly lost. After an illness, a fall, a bereavement or a retirement that arrived faster than expected, the walk to the shops stops happening. Then the club stops happening. It is nobody's fault and it is very hard to reverse on your own, because the hardest part is always the first ten minutes.
Keeping Well makes those first ten minutes an appointment. Someone comes on the same day each week, you go out together, and you talk. Over a few months that usually turns into going somewhere in particular — a group, a class, a coffee with an old friend — with your companion coming along the first couple of times.
- A regular walk and talk, at your pace, on a fixed day
- Company on the way back to something you used to do
- A hand rejoining a group, a class, a library or a place of worship
- Some structure in a week that has stopped having any
- The same companion, so you are not starting again each time
Keeping Well is companionship. It is not therapy, counselling, a mental health service or any kind of clinical treatment, and our companions do not offer any of those.
If what you need is treatment, that is not something we do. Your GP is the right place to start, and in Greater Manchester you can also refer yourself to NHS talking therapies without going through a GP at all. We are glad to sit alongside that. We are not a substitute for it.
Company, plainly described
We are deliberately precise about what this is, because the word "wellbeing" gets stretched a long way by a lot of services and families deserve to know exactly what they are buying.
What you are buying is a person who turns up every week, walks with you, listens properly, and gives you a reason to put your coat on. That is a genuinely useful thing and it does not need dressing up as anything more clinical than it is.
Usually the person themselves, sometimes a partner
You, for yourself
Most Keeping Well arrangements are made by the person who will actually be going out. You choose the day, the length and how far you want to go.
A partner or a friend
Often someone who has watched a person withdraw and cannot be the one to push. Having a third person makes it easier for everybody.
Through a link worker
Social prescribing link workers, community groups and charities can point people to us. We are happy to talk to them directly with your permission.
Try one visit and see
There is no minimum term and no set-up fee, so a Keeping Well arrangement can be one visit or a standing weekly slot for years. Start with the free meet-and-greet and decide afterwards.